Shoppers went on a spending frenzy in the Bay of Plenty on Boxing Day with more than $5 million being swiped through eftpos or credit cards _ up 16 per cent on last year.
Figures released yesterday showed that $5.4 million was spent in the region on the Paymark electronic network compared to $4.7 million in 2005.
The first day of the traditional post-Christmas store sales also saw the number of transactions on Tuesday in the Bay soar by 12 per cent on 2005 to go past the 100,000 mark.
The average sale was $53.39 _ about $1 less than in the first two weeks of December _ compared to $55.75 in Auckland and $49.25 in Waikato.
Paymark, which processes about 80 per cent of New Zealand's retail eftpos and credit card transactions, has also revealed that $68.3 million was spent across the country on Boxing Day while transactions were up by 12 per cent.
At the Bayfair shopping centre in Mount Maunganui, 27,500 people went through the doors between 9am and 6pm _ about 15,000 more than the normal Tuesday figure.
Operations manager Steve Ellingford said 2500 shoppers came into the centre in the first half an hour of trading, while between 10.15pm and 2pm 850 people came into Bayfair every 15 minutes.
"It would definitely be one of our busiest days of the year. It was not so much the volume of people but how condensed they were," Mr Ellingford said.
Papamoa Fashion Island manager Jane Spearman said Boxing Day at the site, which opened in May and has about 20 stores, was "crazily busy".
"We were almost caught off guard. Some stores did not have enough people in to cope," Ms Spearman said.
While local stores are reaping the benefits of the extra cash injection of the holiday season _ instances of present exchange have not been affected.
Rebel Sport manager Graeme Edwards said his staff had handled some Christmas present exchanges over the past few days but nothing too dramatic.
"There really haven't been too many this year. When they do happen, however, there's is a vast array of things that are returned."
For the Chapel St Bay Central store it tended to be more the clothing or footwear that regularly featured on the returns list.
"Generally, people are returning it because the top is the wrong size or style or the shoes don't fit."
It is a similar situation for central Tauranga shop Cabbages and Kings.
Manager Val Auld told the Bay of Plenty Times problems with the size of garments made up most exchanges.
"We have one here and there _ it's usually because the men have got their wife a bathrobe that's the wrong size, the wrong perfume or something similar."
But as a store, specialising in gifts, "it did not happen a lot".
$5m Boxing Day spending frenzy
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.